37,000 vehicles stolen in Ontario in 2022
Thieves target pick-up trucks and SUVs
Farmers Forum Staff
OTTAWA — Even rusty old farm trucks aren’t safe anymore. A 20-year-old pickup truck was recently stolen from a Southwestern Ontario farm — another sorry statistic in Canada’s ongoing vehicle theft crisis.
The white 2003 Toyota Tundra had rust above both rear wheel wells but was too good for thieves to pass up. The loss of even this aging pickup highlights how criminals will take advantage of any opportunity to get in on Canada’s stolen-vehicle action. So ravenous is the black market demand for illicitly acquired cars and trucks, thieves also stole the federal justice minister’s government-issued Toyota Highlander three times in the last three years.
Last year, the Canadian Finance and Leasing Association reported that a car or truck is stolen every six minutes in Canada. That’s about 90,000 vehicles a year. Insurance companies paid out more than $1 billion in stolen vehicle claims in 2022, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Farmers take note that the Ford F150 Series and Dodge Ram pick-up trucks are among the most popular vehicles among thieves.
The issue cajoled the Trudeau government to hold a one-day February “summit” to look at ways of quelling the ongoing rash of vehicle thefts. In the end, there was no commitment to impose tougher penalties on the perpetrators, though the feds did announce $28 million to beef up inspections of outgoing shipping containers from Canadian ports. Another $15 million was earmarked for improved policing.
Most vehicle thefts go unsolved and unpunished in Canada. There were 37,041 vehicle thefts recorded in Ontario in 2022, but charges laid against only 2,078 people, according to Statistics Canada. More recently, nine people were arrested in Montreal, in connection with a reported car-theft ring that targeted luxury cars and pickup trucks. Police seized 21 vehicles in that action.
Critics point out that even when car thieves are caught and convicted, the courts are more apt to give them a slap on the wrist thanks to the soft-on-crime reforms of the Trudeau government. Our immigration policies also allow anyone into the country, even if they have been red-flagged. In turn, this has made Canada into a desirable, lower risk hunting ground for international car thieves. At least one pundit has also suggested the root of the problem comes from the government’s general lack of concern about private property rights.
Many stolen vehicles are quickly moved out of Canada to foreign markets aboard shipping containers that go largely unchecked at outgoing ports, such as Montreal. In one case, a Toronto-area man used a tracking device to locate his stolen GMC Yukon in a shipping container at a nearby rail yard, not long after it was taken from his driveway. Despite his best efforts, the authorities would not prevent the container from heading down the rails to the port of Montreal and then out to sea. The owner watched this movement helplessly from his computer, tracking his SUV to a used car dealership in the United Arab Emirates, the CBC reported.
According to the most recent figures (covering 2022) released by Équité Association, the Canadian insurance fraud prevention organization, these are the 10 most popular stolen vehicles in Ontario:
